Never in a Million Years
by Lifeisconfusing
Summary: Rory's has an arranged marriage . . . to Finn.PDLD, AU, R
1. Finding Out

**Never in a million years**

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Finding Out**

Rory, Logan, Stephanie, Finn, and Colin were all friends. She dated Logan for a year in High School, but they had a mess break up. Now, the five were at Yale, but the others don't talk to Rory including Stephanie, which really hurt considering she had known Stephanie before she knew the others.

It was Friday night and Rory was one goal; to find him. She hadn't talked to him since the night she and Logan had broken up. Her grandparents had just told her earth shattering news. She, Rory Gilmore Hayden, Stars Hollow Princess, High School Valedictorian, had an arranged marriage to _him_.

Ever since her mother and father had married at the end of her junior year, her world had never been the same. Lorelai had been so happy on her wedding day and it killed her to leave Rory at boarding school while she and Chris were away on business. Rory had assured her that she didn't mind attending one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the country for her senior year, which was lie. Of course it wasn't all bad, if they hadn't married then she would never had been sent to boarding school and she would never had met Logan. Even if he had broken her heart, she still had memories. Of course, not all memories from that school were good. It was in that school that she lost all of her friends; it was in that school that she was told that her mother and father had died.

She lived with her Gilmore grandparents for her first year at Yale, but for her second, she decided to live in the dorms, Branford to be exact. Surprisingly, her roommate was Paris, a girl she had known from Chilton before she left. Paris was now her friend.

She saw them around, it was impossible not to. Logan came by the paper every now and then and they pretended not to notice each other. A huge misunderstanding had led him to believe that she betray him, and he had never talked to her again. Of course, he may be forced to now.

Rory kept her brisk pace to the Berkley dorm room that she knew they occupied. She could barely hear the click of her heels against the ground as it was droned out by the blaring music, a sure sign that a part was going on.

She was about to knock on the door to their dorm when it opened. Rory knew that she didn't need to knock, it wasn't like anyone would have answered anyway, but she couldn't just walk in. She never identified the one that opened the door, but she walked into the dorm and was instantly spotted by Colin

He came up to her, grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her into the bathroom.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked in a deadly voice.

Rory had been through too much for Colin, a guy who she knew for a fact ironed his boxers, scare her now.

"I need to talk to Finn." she said, her voice wavering.

His glare was intense, and she looked to the side to avoid it. It was then that she caught a glance of herself since leaving the grandparent's house. Rory had been unaware of the tears running down her face, causing her make up to run.

"Finn?" he asked in disbelief.

Colin was confused. As far as he knew, no one in his group of friends had talked to her since High School. She was the girl who had broken Logan's heart and now she was here, crying, wanting to talk to Finn?

"Finn?" he asked again.

She nodded her head.

"Why?" he asked, letting his curiosities get the better of him for a second.

She opened her mouth to answer him when the door burst opened and in came Logan attached at the mouth to a drunk blond. Why he came into the bathroom to carry on with his . . . . activities was beyond her. He had a room here, he should use it.

"Logan," Colin said softly, causing Logan to jump which in turn surprised the blonde.

"Colin what the . . ." then he saw Rory. "What the fuck is she doing here?"

"I need to see Finn." She whispered once again.

"Finn?" he asked in the same tone Colin had.

"How hard is to comprehend that I need to see Finn?" she all but yelled.

Logan turned to the blond that he had come in with.

"Shauna-."

"Sara," she corrected.

"Sara, sorry, could you excuse us for a moment? Thank you." He said, not giving her time to respond as he pushed her out the door. He turned back to Rory.

"What the hell do you want with Finn?"

"It's none of your business. Tell me where he is or I'll find him myself." She replied forcefully

"Find him yourself." Logan spat, exiting the bathroom.

She and Colin stood for a second in an awkward silence before Rory let as well, hoping to find wherever they kept the alcohol; she knew Finn would be there.

Weaving her way through the crowd, she spotted him. He was talking to a girl, a redhead to be more exact. It made her want to start crying all over again.

Walking over to them, she recognized the redhead as Rosemary, a girl Finn had been semi-serious with in high school.

"Rory! My God I haven't seen you since High School!" Rose exclaimed

Rory had kept her eyes on Finns face, noticing the reaction on his face when he heard Rosemary say her name. It had gone from happy to shock and settled on angry.

"I know, hey, could I talk to Finn for a second?" she replied

Not many knew the delicate reason behind the friends' split up.

"Sure." Rosemary said, walking away

"What the hell are you doing here Rory?" Finn asked after a minute. Her appearance had instantly sobered him.

"I need to talk to you." She said quietly

"About what? You know Logan will go ballistic if he finds you here." He told her

"Logan already knows I'm here," she replied. "Look, can we please find somewhere to talk?" she added desperately.

"Fine."

Finn was starting to regret agreeing with Logan to throw this party. When Logan had approached him about it Finn had already promised his parents he would come over for dinner, supposedly they had something important to tell him.

Rory followed Finn out the door and into the hallway. He looked at her expectantly, not noticing that Colin, Logan, and Stephanie were already in the hallway, obviously talking about her. When Stephanie saw Rory her jaw dropped, as if she didn't believe it when the guys told her Rory was here.

"Can we go somewhere private?' Rory requested once Finn noticed them as well

"Anything you can say to Finn you can say to us." Logan spoke up.

Rory decided not to fight them on it. She looked Finn straight in the eye.

"I just got back from dinner with my grandparents." She informed him

"So?"

Instead of answering him verbally, Rory pulled out a few pieces of paper from her purse, they looked to be a contract of some sort, and handed them to Finn. Wordlessly, he took the papers, and started to skim over them. For the first time that night, one of her ex-best friends looked at her as if she were human.

"Were getting married?" he said in disbelief

**This is a PDLD, not a Rogan. Should I continue?**


	2. Not a Redhead

**Never in a million years**

**A/N **So, I am seriously blown away by the response I got. I'm glad you all liked it and thank you all for reviewing.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Not a Redhead**

Finn just stared at the document in his hand; he had lost the ability to speak moments ago. Rory continued to look at her feet as the others looked from Finn to Rory.

"You signed it!" Finn blurted out as he got to the last page and looked up at her.

"It's not valid until you sign it too." She said to the ground.

They all continued to stand there in silence. After about five minutes of Finn staring blankly at the last page Rory spoke up.

"I just . . . I mean . . . I just thought you should know so I . . . I'll just go."

Rory turned around and began to walk down the hall. She refused to let them see her break down. Tears started to fall but she kept her pace.

"Rory, wait," Stephanie called, running after her, causing Colin and Finn to look at her like she was insane.

Rory started walking faster but Stephanie caught up with her. She placed a hand on Rory's shoulder and Rory started to run; Stephanie ran after her. The three guys stood in their original positions; Finn gripping the contract while Logan and Colin stood behind him.

"I'll shut the party down." Colin said, breaking silence.

He walked back in the party, a few minutes later a crowd of people exited the dorm, looking a little put out. Finn broke his gaze on the contract for a moment as he kissed his girlfriend Rosemary goodbye and promised to call her later. Finn, followed by Colin Logan, ran toward the direction Stephanie and Rory had gone moments before.

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Rory kept running and so did Stephanie. Rory was running in heels, which was disadvantage enough, but add tears that caused her vision to blur, and Stephanie easily caught up wit her.

"What do you want?" Rory exclaimed, turning to face Stephanie with tears streaming down her face. "You hate me, remember!"

Stephanie didn't say anything; they were standing in the stairwell of the guys building.

"I sure as hell do!" Rory continued. "Logan told me when he ambushed me in our dorm, how could I now?"

"Don't start acting all self righteous. You're the one who slept with Marty while you were still dating Logan."

"I never slept with Marty!" Rory stated.

Seconds later the guys joined them in the stairwell, Rory knew by their faces that they had heard her and Stephanie.

"Rory we saw you coming out of his room!" Logan exclaimed

"So what? That automatically means that I slept with him?"

"Well we never heard anything to the contrary." Logan shot back

"When was I supposed to tell you my side? When you showed up in my dorm and broke up with me?" She turned to Stephanie, "When you never came back to the dorm?" she turned to Colin and Finn, "Or when you all ignored me?"

"You didn't even apologize for cheating!" Logan continued

"You want an apology?" she asked in disbelief

"I believe that's what he said." Colin said

"Shut up Colin." She turned to Logan, "You want an apology?"

"It's too late to apologize." He said,

Logan turned around and started for the door, but stopped when Rory started to speak.

"I'm sorry." She stated

Logan turned around.

"I'm sorry that you three pulled one of your stupid pranks and Marty got blamed for it. I'm sorry that he got night duty and when I got a call from Hartford Memorial Hospital he had to come get me. I'm sorry that I had to hear from some nurse, over the phone, that my parents were killed by some asshole that didn't have enough sense not to drink and drive." She paused when she felt the first trace of a tear on her face, not wanting them to see her cry. "I'm sorry that when I threw up because I was crying too hard Marty carried me to his room to make sure I was okay. I'm sorry that you were stupid enough to think that I would sleep with him. I'm sorry that I was too stupid to realize that he was the only real friend that I had at that school. I'm sorry that after I went home for a week to attend _my parent's funeral_ that I saw that you already had another flavor." She hadn't been yelling, but with the words came tears. "I'm sorry that I meant that little to you. Really, I'm sorry. I don't know how I live with myself. Please, forgive me."

Stephanie looked like she was about to cry. Colin had a distraught look on his face. Logan looked helpless, which was a little funny, considering he was someone who was almost always in control. Finn, however, just stared at her with stoic eyes. She didn't know if any of them believed her and frankly, she didn't give a shit. None of them said anything as she walked out of the stairwell; none of them went after her as she walked back to her dorm, not really breaking down until she was in the privacy of her own room.

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Rory woke up early the next morning, feeling like she had slept for hours when in reality it had only been five. She replayed the scenes from last night in her mind. Her grandparents handing her the contract, her leaving, driving to the house in Stars Hollow she had once shared to her mother and just staring at it, she still owned the house but she hadn't found the strength to go into since she found out her parents had died. She remembered going back to Yale, meeting up with her old friends, and reliving the most painful night of her entire life.

Rory got dressed and walked out her dorm. To her, campus looked different at six o'clock in the morning. She surprised the coffee cart guy by being there so early, especially on a Saturday morning.

Rory needed to find solace and there was only one place she could go to do that; the library. Rory loved the library. She loved how it was filled with books that were twice her age. She loved the first editions that were made when the author was usually penniless and hoped beyond hope that someone would like what they wrote; having no idea that centuries later people would still read their words.

Surprisingly, Rory was able to study. She got all of her required reading done and even polished off an essay. Her coffee was long gone but she couldn't leave. If she left then that meant she would have to go back the real world, and Rory didn't want too. Unfortunately, in some retrospect's, the real word came to her.

"I thought I might find you here."

The Australian set a large cup of coffee in front of Rory and sat across the table from her. After Rory had left last night, it took about five minutes for any of them to move, let alone realize they let her leave.

"You're here early."

Rory didn't acknowledge his presence and he didn't leave.

"I got a call from my mother this morning," he paused in hope she might say something; she didn't. "After yelling at me for not coming home for dinner last night she made me promise to come tonight, with you. We're supposed to be there at seven."

As if on cue, her phone started to ring. She received a few dirty looks from other studiers, but she didn't care.

"Hi Grandma," Rory answered her phone.

"Hello dear, I assume Emily told you the news last night."

"If you're referring to you four arranging the rest of my life the yes, I got the message."

"I called to inform you that we are expected to dine with the Rothchilds tonight, be there by seven."

"Grandma, I just had dinner with the Gilmore's last night, I really don't know if I can handle another society dinner."

"Your grandfather and I expect you there by seven." Francine replied firmly, ignoring her granddaughter's last statement.

She hung up.

"I was thinking we could drive together."

Rory had forgotten Finn was there. She looked up at him, staring him straight in the eye.

"If you're not at my dorm by six thirty then I'll go by myself." She stated.

With that, she gathered her books and her coffee and left the library.

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Rory opened the door to her dorm to find Stephanie sitting on her couch. She really couldn't take much more of this.

"Paris let me in." Stephanie said. I told her we were working together on a project." She added unnecessarily.

Rory nodded in comprehension. She walked into her room, knowing Stephanie would follow, and started to put her books back into their designated spots and waited for Stephanie to start talking again.

"Are you and Colin still dating?" Rory asked after five minutes of awkward silence.

"No, we broke up last year." Stephanie responded, noticing that Rory's back was still to her.

"It's good you're still friends."

"I guess," she paused for a moment. "So I realized something last night."

"Oh?"

"Yep, I'm going to hell."

"What?"

Stephanie's statement caught Rory by surprise and she turned to face her.

"How could I not be?" Stephanie continued. "I was a total bitch to you. You're right; none of us ever gave you a chance to tell your side of the story. Then there's the thing with you're parents and you had to go through it alone and I was your friend, I should have known that you would never had done that. Not after everything you went through with your other boyfriends. I'm so sorry." She finished desperately

Rory just stared at Stephanie. She felt herself slowly breaking down. With everything going on, she needed a friend. Not that Paris wasn't a friend, but she needed a friend that was like Stephanie; someone who knew her when she was still a shy seventeen year old girl.

Rory wasn't naive, she knew that after two years she and Stephanie could go back to being the friends they were in high school, but they could start. Rory walked over to her friend and took the coffee.

"I have to go to dinner with Finn's parents and the Haydens tonight. Want to help me find something to wear?"

Rory didn't need help finding something to wear and Stephanie knew this. Stephanie threw her arms around Rory and Rory couldn't help but feel a little better about this whole situation.

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Stephanie walked back to the guy's dorm feeling a whole lot better then when she left the night before. She had missed having a girl in the group. Sure, there was Rosemary, but Rory was different. As soon as she walked into the dorm she was bombarded with questions.

"Did you talk to her?" asked Logan

"What did she say?" asked Colin

"Does she still totally hate us?" asked Finn, who was still a little confused by his conversation, if you could call it that, with Rory earlier that day.

"Yes, I talked to her and I know that she doesn't totally hate me, I don't know about you three."

The guys looked at her, confused.

"We did a horrible thing guys. I mean, we did a horrible thing to one of the nicest girl on the planet."

"We know Steph." Logan said

"Do you? We abandoned her. A friend doesn't do that. A friend is supposed to stick with you no matter what and we just left."

"We thought she cheated-." Colin tried to defend them but was cut off

"If Logan had cheated on Rory would we have done the same to him?" Stephanie asked him

"No, but we've knew Logan a lot longer then we knew Rory."

"But we knew her well enough to know that she would never do something like that." Stephanie stated. "Or at least I thought we did." She added before walking out of the room and headed for her own.

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Rory was ready for dinner. She was wearing what her and Stephanie had picked out and she was sitting on the couch, channel surfing. She didn't know why she was surprised when Finn answered to door. She had, after all, told him to pick her up at six thirty.

The drive was silent. When they pulled up to his parent's house he brought his hand to her face.

"Everything's going to be okay, alright. I promise." He whispered

They walked into the house promptly at seven, not a minute too soon. Rory looked around the house and couldn't help but think that it resembled a museum. She was polite throughout dinner; she thought it quite ironic that Finn was her only ally.

Finn's parents gave him his copy of the contract. He knew that the one Rory had given him was now probably in the hands of Logan or Colin, who he asked to look over for any loopholes or things that could be changed.

"How are your studies going Phineas?" his father asked after dinner, using his full name.

"Fine father," he replied curtly.

"And you Rory?"

"Fine, sir," she replied timidly. It was a weird thought that these people were to be her in-laws.

The conversation soon turned to Business (Straub and John) and the wedding (Francine and Portia). Rory and Finn soon went unnoticed and left. The elders didn't even notice them leave.

"Well, that was fun." Finn commented on the way back to Yale, trying to strike up a conversation.

"I especially liked it when they started discussing our 'marriage'. They made it sound like a business agreement."

"That's because it is." He said before he could stop himself.

Rory didn't respond.

"I gave the papers you gave me last night to Colin and Logan," he told her, noticing how her stiffened slightly at the mention of Logan. "They're looking through it to make sure they didn't put anything completely insane it there."

"I think that contract itself is completely insane."

He pulled into the Yale parking lot, got out, and ran around the car to open the door for Rory. He walked her back to her dorm.

"Do you want to come back with me? We could hang out, all of us." He offered hopefully.

"Thanks, but no. It's still kind of . . . weird."

"Rory . . ."

"Look, we can't go back to the way it was in High School. We can't just go back to all being friends, if we were even that . . ." she trailed off

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing . . . it's just . . . I thought you wall thought of me as a friends, not Logan's girlfriend."

Without another word, Rory walked into her dorm. She listened for his footsteps to tell her that he was gone. She got changed into something more comfortable and walked out of her dorm. She needed to get drunk.

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She later realized that going to the pub was a stupid decision. It was ridiculous of her to think that the guys had enough alcohol in their dorm for tonight, especially for Finn. They didn't notice her at first; of course, she wasn't exactly drawing attention to herself.

Rory was sitting in the back of the pub; she had entire booth to herself as she worked on her second Long Island Ice Tea, her mother's signature drink. She didn't feel the affect of the alcohol after the first one, so she had ordered another. Long Island Ice Tea is a fickle drink. You don't feel it until about ten minutes after you finished it, after you've already gotten another. Even when the affects hit her, she kept drinking.

Rory had just ordered her third. She was glad that they didn't card her. Rory handed her alcohol surprising well, she didn't get wild like Stephanie. She just became a little more outgoing when drunk.

When Logan, Colin, Finn, Stephanie walked into the Pub, the thought that Rory would be there didn't cross their minds. But when Logan heard the waitress tell the bartender she needed a Long Island Ice Tea, his mind went to Rory. Logan looked around the bar and he found her. She was sitting in the back with tears streaming silently down her face.

"Ace?"

He walked over to the booth she occupied, the others followed. She didn't say anything when they all sat down next to her. Stephanie could tell by her breath that she had been there for a while.

"Rory, how much have you had to drink?" Stephanie asked her seriously

"I think this is my third one of these." She giggled. "They are really good; I know why my Mom liked them."

Colin tried to take the glass away from her but she moved it out of his grasp.

"Rory, come on, give me the drink."

"Get your own."

"Rory, come on, I'm taking you home." Finn said, getting up

"No," she whined

He pulled her out of the booth and stood her up. She tried to walk but she couldn't, Finn caught her when she stumbled.

"Woops," she said; tears and laughs coming at the same time.

Finn led her out of the pub and ended up having to carry her back to her dorm. Paris let him in, muttering something about killing the next person who wakes her up. He put her into her bed and tucked her in. Her was about to leave when she called out to him.

"Finn,"

"Yes, Love."

"I'm sorry I'm not a redhead." She said before falling into a deep sleep.

**A/N** So, there's the second chapter, Hope you all liked it, please review!

**A/N2** I have a new homepage; hopefully I'll update this one!


	3. A House is Not a Home

**Never in a million years**

**AN **Thank you so much for all the reviews!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**A House is Not a Home**

Rory had always been good at faking sleep. Sure, Finn had had to carry her back to her home, but she hadn't fallen asleep when he left; she was still wide awake. Slowly, Rory sat up and got out of bed. She stumbled a little, but her balance had improved considerably since the last time she tried to walk. Rory knew where she had to go.

Still drunk, Rory called a cab company. She grabbed her coat and her purse and walked out the door, making sure to lock it. When she receiver a call on her cell phone telling her the cab was here, she went to the parking lot and got into the cab.

Even if she wasn't drunk, there was no way she could have driven there herself. They would have recognized her car in an instant; that was Stars Hollow for you. About forty-five minutes after getting into the cab, she was passing Luke's. It was late, no one was out. Driving through her old town had sobered her considerably. The driver dropped her of at her house and she paid him, tipping him way more then necessary. For the first time since she left for boarding school, she put her key in the lock, opened the door, and walked into her house, the one her and Lorelai used to share.

Everything was still there; the pictures on the wall, the movies, the couch. It was dusty, which didn't surprise her. While her parents had bought a mansion in Hartford, Lorelai had insisted on keeping her house here. Rory walked through the kitchen and stood in the doorway of her childhood room. Her posters, Harvard paraphernalia, and leftover books were still in their place.

At the beginning of the school year Rory had had the power and the water turned on just in case, but she could never make it inside. She was still a little drunk and was suddenly very tired. Doing the only thing she could think of, Rory walked into her room and climbed into bed. This time, she fell asleep for real.

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Hangovers don't agree well with anyone. Especially, as Stephanie Vanderbilt knew, with Rory Hayden. With a cup of coffee in hand, Stephanie knocked on the door to Rory's dorm; Paris answered.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"I came to see Rory."

"She's not here." Paris replied shortly.

"What do you mean she's not here?"

Stephanie saw it highly unlikely that Rory would be studying with a hangover.

"Her purse, keys, and phone are gone She's not in her bed, she's not answering her phone, and she didn't leave a note!" Paris exclaimed.

"Stephanie? What are you doing here?"

Stephanie whipped her head around to see Finn, Colin, and Logan each with a cup of coffee in their hand.

"The same thing you are, but she's not here."

"What do you mean she's not here?" Logan asked.

"It means that at one in the morning I'm woken up by this guy," Paris points to Finn, "because supposedly Rory can't walk. He puts her to bed and leaves, slamming the door by the way. Then, the minutes later she calls a cab company and leaves!" Paris explained further, annoyed.

"And who are you?" asked Finn

"Paris Gellar, her best friend."

"How unfortunate," Colin commented arrogantly.

Before Paris could respond, Logan jumped in.

"Do you know where she went?"

"No," Paris replied in a somewhat guarded tone, letting Logan know that she wasn't being truthful.

"Do you know where she might go?" asked Finn.

"And who are you?" asked Finn, mimicking Finn fro earlier.

"Her fiancé," he retorted forcefully.

"Rory's not dating anyone. If she were, I would know."

"It's arranged," he replied hastily. "Can you just tell us where she might be?"

Upon hearing this, Paris widened the door and stepped out of the way as the four walked into the dorm room and shut the door behind them.

"Come again?" Paris asked expectantly.

"Her grandparents and my parents arranged our marriage."

"Then how do you know them?" she asked Stephanie. "I thought you and Rory were doing a project together."

"Rory and I roomed together in High School." Stephanie replied vaguely.

A look of realization came over Paris's face.

"You're Logan aren't you?" Paris asked the blond guy before her.

"Yeah," he answered. "Look, can you-."

"You four need to leave." She said seriously, opening the door and holding it open or them.

"We're not leaving until-." Colin began.

"Listen preppy," Paris started; referring to the sweater vest her was wearing. "I'm trained in Krav Maga. If you don't leave on your own I'll help you out."

"Paris, please, we need to talk to her. Just . . . Do you know where she is?" Finn tried one last time.

Paris studied his face with such an intense degree that Finn was afraid to blink.

"Give me your keys." Paris said after awhile.

He was too afraid not to comply so he handed over the keys to his black SUV. Paris grabbed her coat and walked out the door; confused, the other's followed. Paris locked the door and started walked toward the parking lot. Because of Paris's fast pace, they reached the lot in record time. Suddenly, she stopped walking and turned to Finn.

"Which one is yours?" she asked

"Huh?"

"Which one of these motor vehicles do you have the ownership of?" she asked as if her were a small child. Finn pointed to his black SUV.

"Where are we going?" asked Stephanie as they followed Paris to the car.

Instead of answering, Pars opened the driver's side door and got in the car.

"Don't you think I should drive; seeing as it's my car?" Finn asked

"I don't like to be a passenger in a car. I'm driving." She stated as Stephanie and Colin climbed into the back seat. Logan, however, decided to follow Paris in his own car.

"Where are we going?" Stephanie asked again.

"Stars Hollow."

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Rory didn't know how long she had been lying awake in bed. She didn't think that anyone knew she was here. Babette hadn't come by and Rory figured she would have if she saw arrive in the taxi.

Rory sat up and immediately lay back down, feeling the effects of the hangover. She knew there was no food or coffee in this house. Sitting up again, she braced herself for the pounding feeling in her head. Still wearing the jeans and t-shirt from last night, she got out of bed.

Time had seemed to be nonexistent in this house. Sure, there was dust, but there was always dust. She had a feeling that Luke had made sure the house hadn't completely gone to Hell. Rory made her way to the loving room and noticed the mantle was empty, the pictures now sat in the house her parents had bought in Hartford.

Rory was grateful for the silence that lingered in the house, especially in her hung-over state. Coffee would have been really great right not, but there was no way she was going to Luke's. It was breakfast time and Rory wasn't up to walking into a crowded diner that would go quiet as soon as she walked in. Suddenly, Rory hears a car pull up and a few doors open and shut; the silence was broken. She wanted to be alone and was her regretting her decision to not lock the door. She had a pretty good feeling to who it was.

There were no knocks on the door and for that Rory was grateful. Rory knew that Paris wouldn't bother to knock; Paris would just walk right in. Rory went back into her room and lay down in her bed. The slamming of the door made her wince in pain and she closed her eyes. Seconds later, the group of five young adults walked into her room.

"What the hell were you thinking Gilmore?" yelled Paris as she stormed into Rory's room; Rory groaned in response. "I mean, taking a cab at 1 in the morning! Do you know what convicts do when they get out of jail? They become CAB DRIVERS!"

Someone had handed her a cup of coffee, it was cold but the caffeine took the edge off her headache.

"I mean, you have to be carried home, you don't leave a note when you leave, and then I find out tat you're getting married! Why were you hiding this from me?"

There was no doubt in her mind that Babette was now calling Miss Patty to inform her that Rory was back in Stars Hollow.; she could practically hear Kirk yelling it into the diner. She felt another cup of coffee being pressed into one hand and two aspirin being pressed into the other.

"Paris, would you mind lowering it a decibel or two?" Rory asked. "My head already feels like it's going to explode."

Paris just glared at her.

"Why are you all here?" Rory asked, opening her eyes.

"We could ask you the same thing." retorted Paris.

"This is my house." Rory said pointedly.

"A house that you haven't been in for over two years." Paris exclaimed, instantly regretting it.

"Shut up Paris," Rory whispered.

"You own this house?" asked Stephanie.

"My Mom and I used to live here." Rory offered as an answer. "It was left to me in the will. I haven't . . . this is my first . . . I haven't been in this house since I left for boarding school."

"Why?" asked Colin before he could stop himself.

Rory shrugged.

"So you really did want to go to Harvard, huh?" Commented Logan as he noticed the pennants on her wall.

Rory nodded, she didn't feel up to talking to Logan just yet.

Someone knocked on the door, interrupting their 'conversation', and Rory got out of bed to answer it.

"What are you doing here Jess?" she asked, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind her. Stephanie was the only one who knew the full story of Jess.

"I heard you were back." he said to his feet.

"Well you heard right."

"Are you staying?" he asked

"No one was supposed to know I was here. I'm going back to my dorm alter today." She said,

"I mean are you going to come back once in awhile. Or are you just going to abandon the town again?" he asked shrewdly, looking her in the eye.

"How's Lane?" she asked.

"Rory . . ."

"Are you two still together? Should I be expecting a save the date card?" she continued.

"Don't be like this . . ."

"Because you looked pretty serious when I found you in bed with her."

"I didn't come here to-." he started forcefully but was cut off.

"Was she good? I hope she was good? Because I really hope you didn't throw away our relationship for some dead lay." And that was when he punched her.

Rory hadn't meant to be that crude, at least she think she didn't. Her grandparents' would have been shocked if they heard her just then, but a visit from Jess just made it all boil over. The arranged marriage, seeing Logan again, being back in this town, this house, the memories of Jess hitting her, the memory of finding out her best friend was screwing her boyfriend; it was all too much to handle.

As soon as Jess's fist collided with her face, her body collided with the porch and the door to the house burst open. The force of the punch had caused her to hit the deck, no doubt resulting in a sound that reached the others. She felt two arms wrap around her and was carried into the house and set down on the couch. Finn was the first to get him and was able to knock him to the ground with one solid punch, but that didn't stop him from continuing. Rory covered her eye with her hand, not wanting anyone to see the bruise that was forming. Logan and Colin, although equally enraged with Jess's actins, had to pull Finn off him, not wanting their friend to get in trouble with the law.

By the look of him, Jess had fought back. Finn had a cut underneath his eye probably, Rory guessed, caused by the ring on Jess's finger, for it had done the same to her numerous amounts of times. Rory had no doubt that Finn had caused more damage.

"Are . . . Are you okay?" Rory asked timidly as Colin and Logan escorted Finn to the couch. It wasn't that he was hurt; they were just making sure he wouldn't go back outside to Jess.

"I'm fine love, how's your eye?" Finn asked, pulling her hand away from her face. He could already see a bruise forming.

"Shit Rory." Logan muttered.

"Who was that guy?" Colin asked seriously.

"Was that Jess?" Stephanie asked incredulously, a look of realization washing over her face.

Rory nodded and turned to Finn,

"Thanks," she whispered.

Rory got up from the couch and left them all in the living room. After disappearing into the coat closet for a few minutes, she came out with two boxes and set them on the porch. Then, she went into the kitchen and emerged with a can of lighter fluid and matched and went outside. This time, the group followed her.

"Why do you have lighter fluid in your kitchen?" Stephanie asked.

"After finals in 11th grade Mom and I burned all by books." Rory reminisced. "Where else would we keep it?" she asked as she moved the boxes off the porch.

"Any room that doesn't have food in it." Colin suggested sarcastically.

"We never kept food in kitchen. The only thing we used the refrigerator for was storing leftover take-out and drinks." She replied monotonously as she poured the lighter fluid over the boxes. She lit a match and threw it towards the boxes; the boxes and their contents were soon engulfed in flames.

"Thinking about a career as an arsonist?" Paris muttered.

"I don't want to remember them." She whispered, watching her Lane box and Jess box burn.

It was like her whole life before boarding school was gone. Her friendship with Land, her

relationship with Jess, her parents; they were all gone. Lane had slept with her boyfriend, Jess had hit and cheated on her, and her parents had died. She stood there in her lawn; Babette had come out of her house but hadn't approached her.

Logan and Finn put the first out. The others hadn't brought anything with them and Rory's purse was with her; there was nothing left in that house anymore. It wasn't her home; it hadn't been her home since Lorelai died. She locked up the house, walked over to Logan's car, and got in the front passenger seat. Logan took this as a hint that she was ready to leave and headed toward the car but Finn stopped him. He took the keys from Logan, he was going to drive her home; Rory was going to talk to him, even if he had to force her to do it.

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"Spill it Steph." Logan said as soon as they got into the car.

Colin, Stephanie, Logan, and Paris were in Finn's SUV heading back to Yale. Rory and Logan were in the car behind them. Logan knew that Stephanie knew the story behind Jess and it was a story he wanted.

"Back off Logan," Stephanie retorted.

"I want to know why Rory was just punched out by some James Dean wannabe."

"He's her ex-boyfriend." Paris supplied.

"You know him?" asked Colin.

"I know of him." Paris corrected. "I also know that after they started dating Rory started wearing concealer.

"He hurt her." Stephanie said after awhile.

"Yeah, obviously," Logan said flippantly

"No, I mean, he really, really hurt her; mentally, emotionally, and physically." Stephanie stated.

Logan turned in his seat to face her with an expectant look on her face.

"He beat her," Stephanie explained. "Not at first, but after a few months he would just lash out at her. After awhile, he just stopped and Rory thought everything was okay."

"But it wasn't." Colin alluded.

No, it wasn't." Stephanie shook her head. "One day this guy, Dave, who was dating her best friend, told her that Lane, her best friends, was sleeping with Jess. She didn't believe him a first, but a few hours later he caught them in bed together. She ran away and Jess followed her, beat her up pretty bad."

"Shit," Logan hissed.

"I bet you feel like an ass." Paris commented wryly, stating the obvious.

"How do you know all of this?" Colin asked, knowing Rory wouldn't divulge this amazement nonchalantly.

"She told me after that party you guys threw; the one where Finn got her so drunk she couldn't ever see straight. It thought she was asleep when all of the sudden she just started saying all this stuff and . . ." Stephanie trailed off.

"What happened to Lane?" asked Paris, for she had known the girl.

Stephanie shrugged,

"I know that she didn't believe that Jess actually hit Rory. Rory stayed at her grandparents' house to finish out the school year; she didn't want to stay in Stars Hollow. When school ended she went to Vegas with her parents to see them get married. Next school year she went to Harper."

"And she met us." Logan finished.

"Yep."

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The car was silent.

Rory hadn't protested when Finn joined her in the car, but he hadn't talked to him since either. Her forehead rested on the window and they drove through her old town.

"Are you okay?" he asked, breaking the silence.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her nod her head.

"Sorry I've been such a bitch lately." Rory said, still looking out the window.

"What we did was much worse." He assured her, not wanting her to feel guilty.

"I know but . . . You're going through this too."

"Can I ask you a question." He ventured.

"You can I ask, I might not answer." she responded truthfully.

"I know you said that you signed the contract because it wasn't valid until I signed it as well, but is that really why you signed?"

She didn't answer immediately and Finn began to think that she wasn't going to, but she did.

"No."

"Then why did you sign?"

They were at a red light and Finn glanced at her only to find her looking straight back at him.

"They're the only family I have left." she said softly as tears filled her eyes.

The light turned green and Rory went back to looking out the window, not knowing that Finn saw how she hastily wiped away the lone tear that betray her.

**I hope you all liked this chapter. Please review!**


	4. Opening Up

**Never in a million years**

**AN **Thank you so much for all the reviews! Sorry for any grammatical errors.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing

**Opening Up**

They drove back in silence. Finn would glance at her from time to time but he would just find her looking out the window. He pulled into the parking lot in front of her dorm. She didn't move when he took the keys out of the ignition and neither did he.

As they sat in the car Finn began to think, not a regular activity for him at this hour. He had a girlfriend. An honest to god, not casual, strings attached girlfriend. After a year of begging her to come home with him she finally had and now he had to leave her. He didn't love her, but he could have.

Finn felt horrible and the thing with Rosemary was a minor contributing factor. The discovery of Rory's past answered some questions her had had when he first met her. Why she had been skittish around him, Colin, and Logan, why she had been reluctant to make friends, why she mostly kept to herself. It was the missing piece of the puzzle and how they had treated her for the past year and a half made him feel even more like crap then he did twenty four hours ago.

A knock on the window pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked out the windshield to find Logan, Stephanie, Colin, and Paris waiting for them to get out of the car. Rory noticed, grabbed her purse, and got out of the car, not even looking at Finn. Stephanie and Paris huddled around her and Finn closed the car door. He realized that out of the four of them Stephanie was the only one Rory had really talked to since the party, given, Stephanie was also the only one who had apologized to her.

"Is she okay?" asked Logan.

"Would you be?" Colin retorted.

The three guys looked over at the three girls to see Paris and Stephanie leading Rory away, presumably to her dorm.

"Who was that guy?" asked Finn.

"Her abusive ex-boyfriend who cheated on her with her best friend." Colin replied matter-of-factly.

"Of course he is." Finn muttered to himself.

"Are we supposed to follow them?" Logan asked, referring to the girls.

"As if on cue, Stephanie turned around and yelled, "Aren't you coming?" across the parking lot.

"What are you going to tell Rosemary?" Colin asked as they started walking.

"I don't know."

"You should do it soon." Logan added. "It's only a matter of time before the press gets wind of this."

"I know."

"Did she say anything on the drive?" asked Colin.

Finn shook his head; he had a feeling that what Rory told him was supposed to remain between the two of them.

"Do you think she'll ever not hate us?" Logan asked.

"I don't think she hates us." said Colin. "I think we hurt her and she still hurts."

Logan and Finn gave Colin a strange look; Colin wasn't known for being insightful.

"What?" asked Colin.

The three stood in front of the door to Rory's dorm, not sure what to do.

"Should we knock?" asked Logan.

"Technically speaking we were already invited inn so we don't have to knock." Colin figured.

"Yeah but-."

Finn was interrupted by the opening of the door.

"Are you three just going to stand there reenacting 'The Little Match Girl'?" asked Paris before walking away, leaving the door wide open.

They walked into the dorm to find Rory sitting the couch with Stephanie who was applying concealer to her black eye. It scared Finn how she acted so nonchalant about it, how it was no big deal to her.

The ring of Rory's cell hone broke the silence and Paris handed it to her. Whoever it was caused Rory to frown before answering.

"Hi Grandma . . . I know Grandma . . . I don't want a birthday party . . . but grandma I . . . . . Fine." She hung up and stormed into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Her birthday's next weekend!" Stephanie suddenly remembered.

"Yeah; Emily and Francine want to throw her a party." Paris said. "They've been nagging her for weeks. They're using the face that she wouldn't le them last year as an excuse why she has to let them this year."

"They're planning her wedding; isn't that enough?" asked Stephanie dryly.

"That's what she said." Paris retorted.

"Someone should go talk to her." Colin said.

The three guys and Paris looked to Stephanie.

With a roll of her eyes, Stephanie opened the door to Rory's room and ventured inside. She found Rory lying on her bed looking u at the ceiling; she wasn't crying.

"I'm thinking of selling the house." Rory said, still looking up.

"Why?"

"It's not the same; she's not there."

"Why not keep it? It's not like you need the money."

"I know, I just don't ever want to go back there." Rory confessed.

Stephanie nodded in understandingly.

"So the grandparents are trying to throw you a birthday party, huh?" Stephanie ventured onto the subject.

"Yeah, only I won't know anyone there."

"Well, they guys and I will be there and I'm sure Paris will be invited. We can form a sub party. Plus, you may not know any of these people but there is something that they all have in common." Stephanie told her knowingly.

"Oh yeah, what?" asked Rory, propping her head up on her bent arm.

"They're rich. So after the party your grandmother's throw the guys and I can give you a real party and you, Paris, and I will have enough money to go on a major shopping spree!" Stephanie exclaimed.

Rory smiled. "Sounds like fun/"

The room was silent until Rory's stomach. Stephanie looked over at her with a smile.

"Hungry?"

"A little," Rory answered. Right then her stomach growled again, only louder.

Stephanie burst out laughing.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"I pick at dinner last night." Rory offered as an explanation.

"Pizza or Chinese?" Stephanie asked.

"Both."

Rory grabbed a sheet of paper and pan and began making a list. When she was done she handed it to Stephanie who looked it over.

"You forgot peanut butter."

Rory added it to the list and the two went back into the common room; Rory gave the list to Colin before picking up the phone to order the pizza.

"What is this? Every type of junk food on the planet?" asked Colin.

"It's your shopping list." Stephanie told him.

"Who said I was going shopping?"

"Logan and Finn are going with you." She said.

"Gilmore, make sure you don't get anchovies." Paris warned her.

Colin gave Stephanie a withering glare but, nonetheless, grabbed his wallet and coat and walked out of the dorm; Finn and Logan followed.

"Paris, will you order the Chinese food?" asked Rory. "Just tell them you want two Hayden specials; they'll know what you mean."

Paris picked up her cell phone and started dialing.

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"Finn, we're taking your car. There probably isn't enough room in Logan's." Colin said as the three walked through the parking lot.

"True," agreed Logan.

The three got into the SUV. Finn started the car and pulled out of the Yale parking lot.

"I still can't believe she's even talking to us." Colin said, bringing up the thing that was on all three of their minds.

"Neither can I." commented Finn.

"She's only really talking to Stephanie." Logan pointed out.

"Stephanie is also the only one who has actually apologized." Colin retorted

"Yeah, but we brought her coffee; shouldn't that count for something? Like a peace offering?" argued Logan.

"Logan, the girl may breathe the coffee, but it's going to take a lot more then that to get back into her good graces. I mean, Stephanie has apologized _and_ brought her coffee but Rory hasn't fully forgiven her yet." Colin replied.

"She talks to Finn." Logan said.

"True," agreed Colin. "What has she said to you?" Colin asked of Finn.

Finn said nothing.

"What has she said?' Colin repeated.

"Nothing," muttered Finn.

His two friends looked at her expectantly.

"She thinks that we didn't think of her as friends, just Logan's girlfriends."

"We did-do think of her as friends." Colin said, confused.

"How is she supposed to know that? We just stopped talking to her one day and continued to ignore her for over a year. I'd be pretty upset to." Finn retorted.

"She's opening up." Logan defended. "She was willing to let me drive her back to school which meant she was willing to spend forty-five minutes in a car with me."

"Are you sure she didn't say anything on the drive?" Colin asked suspiciously.

Finn kept his eyes on the road and his friends gave him the same expectant look.

"I'm not telling you." Finn said as he pulled into a local grocery store.

"Is it about me?" Logan asked, though in an unselfish manner.

"No," Finn shook his head. "No it wasn't about you."

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Three days later he told Rosemary.

After the guys got back from the store the pizza and Chinese had arrived and the girls were watching Casablanca. It was then that he decided to tell Rosemary. He didn't like feeling guilty, and every second he spent with Rory without telling Rosemary, he felt more and more guilty.

He went to her dorm Wednesday morning. He didn't even consider telling her in a public place, she deserved to be able to make a scene. Finn didn't want to have to tell her and he was having second thoughts about going through with it as he sat on the couch in the dorm Rosemary shared with Juliet. He noticed how her face had fallen when he uttered the words 'we need to talk.'

"What going on Finn?" she asked cautiously after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"I . . . I don't know how to say this." He started.

"You don't know how to say what?" she ventured.

He looked her in the eye and said, "I'm getting married."

She looked confused but then a look of realization swept over her face. Rosemary was from society, she knew how their 'world' worked.

"To whom?" she whispered.

"Lorelai Leigh Gilmore-Hayden." He didn't know why he used Rory's full name.

"Rory?" Rosemary's eyes were full of tears and disbelief

Finn nodded.

"Is that why . . ." her voice mirrored her eyes.

"She had just found out and was coming to tell me."

Rosemary accepted that answer.

"I'm sor-."

"Don't apologize," Rosemary cut him off and stood up. "It's not your fault."

They were both silent for a moment.

"Could you . . ." Rosemary motioned to the door.

He understood. Finn got up and kissed her good bye one last time.

He noticed how the tears in dwelling in her eyes finally made the journey down her cheek as she whispered, "Goodbye Finn."

"Goodbye Rosemary." And he made his way out the door.

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It was Sunday, the day of her birthday party, and Rory hadn't seen Finn since the day her drove her home from Stars Hollow. She had heard via Stephanie that he had broken up with Rosemary and she had felt a little guilty; she hadn't known he had a girlfriend.

They were all going to her party, or rather, her grandmothers' party. She, Logan, Paris, Colin, Stephanie, and Finn were sharing a limo so none of them hat to worry about sobriety, or lack of.

A phone call from Francine had woken her up at eight in the morning. She found it unfair that she couldn't sleep in on a Sunday, let alone her birthday. But, after the phone call, it had been a pretty mellow day. She didn't have any work to do, she had turned in all her articles for the paper, and Paris was in the library all day.

Rory was glad for the free time nut couldn't help but worry about what the night's even had in store for her. Her mother had always warned her to never underestimate Emily Gilmore.

She hadn't rushed to get ready and was able to take her time. Rory wanted to out off leaving as much as she possible could. Logan said he would come get Rory and Paris when the limo arrived but Paris had dragged her out of the dorm and the two girls waited just outside their building. Rory didn't see how this saved any time but Paris had insisted on it.

"Do you'll think she'll be here?" asked Paris as they waited for Logan.

"Who?"

"Rosemary."

Rory shrugged. "I don't know."

"I'd be worried if I were you." Paris threw her two cents in, "I mean you did steal her boyfriend."

"I did not steal her boyfriend." Rory exclaimed.

"You didn't steak whose boyfriend?" asked Logan as he approached them.

"Rosemary's," Paris replied.

"She didn't steal her boyfriends." Logan insisted and then turned to Rory. "Happy Birthday."

Logan and the two girls walked in a comfortable silence to the limo. Rory, in a floor length pale pink dress, couldn't help but dread this evening. At lease it was at the Gilmore house; Rory had a room there.

It didn't take long to get to the limo. Rory and Paris were greeted with enthusiasm and with a glass of champagne being pressed into their hands. Finn was already drunk and Rory downed her glass of champagne; she was starting early tonight. It worried Stephanie, but she didn't voice her concern.

They kept the conversation light and the drive past too quickly for Rory. When she stepped out of the limo she stumbled a little, but Finn, who was behind her, caught her and Rory couldn't help but to look him in the eye, and notice the intensity in them, as he help her back to an upright position.

"Rory! Happy Birthday!" she was greeted by Emily as she entered the house.

"Hi grandma."

"Come on Rory, I want to in introduce you to some people."

Before Rory could say anything, Emily pulled her away from her . . . friends. She would even have been grateful if Finn could have come with her.

Emily must have introduced her to fifty of her 'closest friends' and their spouses. It was an hour before she was able to escape to the bar.

"Can I get you anything?" the bartender asked.

"Logan Island Ice Tea please."

The bartended looked her over and Rory could tell that he knew she wasn't twenty one yet. However, he started to make her drink and Rory waited for her beverage to be ready.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Mary." a girls said in a scathing voice. Rory recognized that voice and turned to face the owner.

"Summer, it's been a while."

"I haven't seen you since the end of junior year. Rumor was you were pregnant." Summer finished the rest of her martini before continuing. "Of course, I didn't believe it; you were too much of a prude, you probably still are."

Rory and Summer never exactly got along.

"Rather a prude then a slut." Rory replied pointedly.

"You mean like your mother is? Or was. She is dead isn't she?"

"You're making fun of me because my parents are dead. You know Summer, I really didn't think you could sink any lower; I guess I was wrong."

Before she could gauge Summer's reaction, Rory walked away and went out to the pool house. She had had enough.

Rory knew she couldn't stay out here long. Her grandparent's would come looking for her sooner or later; Rory hoped it was later. She noticed the pool house looked the same as it had when she left it earlier that year before she left to move into the dorm. The TV, DVD player, and couch were still there and Rory would much rather be in there then at 'her' birthday party. She located one of her leftover DVD's, put it in the player, grabbed the remote, removed her shoes, got settled on the couch, and started the movie; she loved Miss Congeniality.

The only light source in the room was the television and Rory hoped it wouldn't draw much attention. Unknown to Rory, Finn had noticed when she left the party and followed her into the pool house.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked innocently.

Rory screamed.

"You scared me!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry love," he said as he walked over to her. Rory just turned back to the television and continued to watch the movie. Finn didn't know if he should leave or stay. He chose the ladder and sat beside her on the couch. After about half an hour of silence, Finn spoke up.

"You can't shut me out forever you know. I know your mad at me . . . at all of us, but you will have to talk to mea t one point." He got no reaction from her but her kept going. "If you think about it, I'm your only ally. I mean, it's you and me against my parents and your grandparents.

"I'm not shutting you out."

"Yes you are."

"You're the one who stayed hulled up in his dorm all week." She snapped.

"Yeah, well . . . ." he faltered and looked away, suddenly guarded.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, truly meaning it. "Stephanie told me about-."

"It's okay," he cut her off.

They were silent.

"You know, I've met Sandra Bullock." Finn said casually after a while.

"Really?"

Finn nodded.

"Maybe we can invite her to the wedding. Think she'd come?" Rory asked.

Finn laughed and so did Rory.

He decided he liked her smile.

They were both silent for a while before, yet again, Finn spoke up.

"I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything; she didn't even look away from the screen. She did, however, lean into him and the two continued to watch the movie.

**Since tomorrow is the last day of school for me I decided to update. I liked this chapter I'll be gone all weekend but I'll try to update my other stories as soon as I have the chapter written. Please review!**


	5. Confrontations

**Never in a Million Years**

**AN **Thank you so much for all the reviews!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Beta:** just hidden

**Confrontations**

* * *

Rory stayed clear of Finn for the next few days. She wasn't flat-out avoiding him; she just kept busy enough so she had zero free time. Of course, Rory was double majoring in journalism and business, had a spot on the Yale Daily News, and had those weekly meetings to plan her upcoming wedding, so having zero free time wasn't something she had to work on.

It was Saturday and Rory's plans consisted of studying, reading, and finishing an article for the paper. Her plans were thwarted, however, when Stephanie showed up at eight in the morning.

"What are you doing here?" Rory asked as Stephanie walking into her dorm and handed her a cup of coffee.

"I was promised shopping. In fact, I was promised shopping with you." Stephanie stated firmly.

"Steph, I can't-."

"Don't finish that sentence. Look, Rory, you can study all day tomorrow. Today you're getting off campus for the first time this week and we're going shopping!"

"I've been off campus this week," Rory mumbled.

"You're grandparents' house doesn't count," Stephanie retorted. "Now, have you returned your gifts yet?"

"They were mostly checks," Rory said. "I cashed them on the way to dinner on Friday."

"Perfect, now we don't have to find all of the stores to return the stuff. Come on, let's go!"

With that, Stephanie pulled Rory out of her dorm, barely giving her time to grab her purse and coffee.

"Where are we going?" Rory asked when she realized Stephanie was going the opposite way of the parking lot.

"We have to go get the boys, "said Stephanie in a 'duh' sort of voice.

Rory's body tensed up, "What? Why?" she asked frantically.

"So they can carry out bags," Stephanie said as she opened the door to the guy's dorm. "Rise and shine!" she yelled. Stephanie opened the door to each of the guys' rooms. "We're going shopping!"

Colin was the first to emerge from his room. Logan and Finn appeared by his side a few seconds later. All of them had a look of utter confusion on their face.

"Who gave her a key?" Logan asked.

"Go get dressed, all of you, we're going shopping and we need someone to carry our bags." Stephanie told them.

"We?"

"Yeah, Rory and I," Stephanie said as if it were obvious.

It hit Rory that they hadn't known she was there. As soon as Stephanie pointed out her presence to them, the guys looked up and seemed to immediately awaken.

"Give us fifteen minutes," Finn muttered before the three disappeared into their own rooms to get dressed.

Stephanie turned to face Rory, "Never underestimate the power of guilt."

* * *

"Rory, get out here," Stephanie called from outside the dressing room Rory occupied.

"No!"

It had all started innocently enough. The five of them had gone out for an early lunch and the guys had complained the whole way about having to spend the day shopping. Supposedly, guilt didn't work as well as Stephanie had thought.

Stephanie had asked what she needed to go to get them to shut up; she claimed she would do anything. All at the same time, the three guys got the same glint in their eyes that matched the smirks on their faces.

After lunch, the three led Rory and Stephanie to a small boutique called _Year Round Costumes_. The guys continued moving until they stopped in front of a rack with a lacy red nightgown hanging on it. Just by look at it, Rory could tell that the person who wore it would leave little to imagination.

"Lingerie? You want me to try on lingerie?" Stephanie asked.

"No, we want you to try on that," Colin said, pointing to another piece on a hanger.

There was only one way to describe it: hideous. The cloth was a dull gray color. Rory guessed that it was to be a dress for one hoping to be a witch. A really, really ugly witch.

"No way," Stephanie said instantly.

"C'mon Steph," Logan leered.

"You said you would do _anything_," Colin reminded her in a mocking tone.

"What have I ever done to you?" Stephanie whines.

"You woke us up at nine o'clock in the bloody morning," Finn said quite bitterly.

Stephanie grabbed the dress and went to dressing room in the back of the store, stomping the entire way.

"Don't forget the wig and the cape," Colin called as he and Logan ran after her.

"Let's join the fun," Finn grabbed Rory's hand and pulled her along as she denied the feeling of warmth of her hand in his.

It didn't take long for Stephanie to change. The click of the lock being unattached preceded her exit. Rory's hand clapped over her mouth to suppress a laugh but it was no use; the laugh escaped anyway. The gray dress went down to her knees but the cape traveled to her ankles. Stephanie wore a dull, red curly wig that didn't even look like hair. The guys didn't bother to hide their laughter and Colin pulled out his phone and snapped a picture. Stephanie's eyes filled with desperation.

"I never said anything about pictures," she cried.

"You never said anything about _no_ pictures either," Logan pointed out.

"Asshole," Stephanie muttered as Logan took a picture as well.

Stephanie stormed back into the dressing room while Rory, Colin, Logan, and Finn continued to laugh. Rory could feel herself loosening up around them. She knew it would take a lot to get back to where they once were, if they could do that at all, but she hoped they could.

Stephanie came out of the dressing room and Rory could tell by the look in her eye that she had an idea. Stephanie went to go hang up the dress and returned with the red nightgown. Before Rory could stop her, Stephanie pulled off Rory's shirt, pushed her into the dressing room, and slipped the nightgown under the door.

"You're not getting your shirt back until you come out in that!" Stephanie told her.

"Why?" Rory asked, glad that they couldn't see her face.

"Because it's only fair that they get an embarrassing picture of you too," Stephanie said matter-of-factly.

"No way am I wearing this, let along getting my picture taken in it," Rory replied sternly. "Why can't I wear the same thing you wore?"

"Because you wearing that gray dress is a lot different then me wearing that gray dress. Plus, you used to date Logan and you and Finn are getting married so he's going to see you naked sooner or later," Stephanie said.

"Steph," Finn hissed. "What the hell?"

There was silence from Rory's end.

"Okay, that came out wrong. Just, come on, we're friends, right?"

Neither Rory nor Stephanie knew if they really were friends. Rory didn't want to forgive them automatically. She didn't feel comfortable around them when she was half naked. The comment Stephanie made about her and Finn made her feel even more mortified than before.

Rory slipped on the dress and looked in the mirror. Her first assumption had been correct; it didn't leave much to imagination. It ended at the top of her thigh and showed off to much cleavage for her taste.

"Rory, get out here."

"No!"

She didn't know why Stephanie was doing this. The whole 'because it's only fair' excuse was lame. Rory knew Stephanie well enough to know that she was up to something. Rory also knew that Stephanie wouldn't give up.

She unlatched the lock on the door, "No pictures, okay?" Rory called out.

"Deal," Stephanie replied automatically, holding her hand out to collect Logan and Collin's cell phones, who wordlessly handed them over.

The door opened slowly and Rory didn't meet anyone's gaze. Stephanie quickly deleted the pictures of herself on Logan and Colin's phone and looked to see the boys' reactions. Colin looked at her with wide eyes and Stephanie felt a twinge of jealously, but ignored it. Logan wasn't looking and Stephanie wondered if it was because he felt guilty looking or if because he knew she wasn't his anymore; Stephanie suspected the latter.

The one reaction she had most wanted to see was Finn's. His eye's had turned dark as he drank in her appearance. It wasn't just lust that Stephanie saw in his eyes, but amazement. When she saw him clenching his hands, her suspicions were confirmed. Finn liked Rory, and Rory had no idea.

* * *

"Why the hell did you do that?" Finn asked in a serious voice.

He, Colin, Logan, and Stephanie were in Stephanie's dorm. They had just gotten back from dropping Rory off at her dorm and they were now helping Stephanie bring her bags back.

"Do what?" Stephanie asked innocently.

"Don't give me that," he said forcefully. "Did you really think that making her wear that in front of us is going to help her feel anymore comfortable in our company? She's not you Stephanie."

"What is that supposed to mean?" By her face he could tell she was offended, but he really didn't care.

"It means that she isn't as forgiving as you remember. It means that you can't just buy her a cup of coffee and take her shopping and expect to have the same friendship you did with her in high school. Hell, even high school Rory wouldn't have liked what you did to her today."

"For your information Finn, I did what I did to prove something," she told him.

"Yeah, like what?" he asked.

"That you still like her," she stated confidently.

All Finn could think of in that moment was twenty different ways to remove Stephanie's head from her body so she couldn't talk anymore. Besides himself, she was the only one who knew that he had liked Rory in high school.

"Still?" repeated Logan.

"Let it go Logan, nothing ever happened," he said, his eyes still on Stephanie.

"How long?" Logan sputtered.

"What?" asked Finn in as incredulous voice, tearing his eyes away from Stephanie to look at Logan.

"How long did you have the hots from my girlfriend?" Logan asked shrewdly.

"All year," Stephanie answered, pointedly, for him.

"What?" Logan asked again, only louder.

That was the problem with having the same friends your whole life: they always had things to throw in your face while in an argument.

"It doesn't matter. Noth-."

"Of course it matters. We're best friends. When your best friend is in love with your girlfriend it matters," Logan interrupted.

"I wasn't in love with her!" exclaimed Finn.

"Sure," scoffed Stephanie.

"Hey Colin, you want to know why Stephanie broke up with you?" Finn ventured, noticing the panicked look on Stephanie's face.

"What?" Colin was confused.

"What did she say it was? Oh, right, she needed her 'space'," Finn continued. "But don't you think there was something else behind it?"

"Stephanie, what is he talking about," Colin asked seriously.

"Nothing," she shot a deadly look at Finn. "Absolutely nothing."

"Sure," Finn scoffed, imitating her from earlier.

"Stephanie, what is he talking about," Colin repeated.

Stephanie looked around her own dorm with a helpless look on her face.

"Screw you Finn," she whispered in a tearful voice before walking out and slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Stephanie knocked frantically on Rory's door. She hoped Rory would answer before one on the guys, namely Colin, found her.

She wished Finn would die. She wished he would die a slow, painful, bloody death. How dare he. How dare he tell Colin she broke up with him for a different reason then she had led him to believe. Sure, maybe she shouldn't have told Logan that Finn had liked Rory in high school, but what Finn did was worse. Much worse.

She remembered the first day she met Rory. Finn had seen her first, which was why Stephanie was surprised when Logan started dating her. The three guys had a rule: If you see her first you date her first. It wasn't official, but it was still a rule.

Rory opened the door and Stephanie walked in wordlessly.

"What do you want Steph?" Rory asked in a tired voice after shutting the door.

"Look, I'm sorry for the whole thing this morning. It was an incredibly bitchy thing for me to do. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Forgive me? Great, now can we talk about me?" Stephanie said in once breath.

Rory's mouth was hanging open and Stephanie took that for a 'yes'. Rory sat down on the couch and Stephanie did the same.

"Thanks, now remember how I told you that Colin and I broke up last year," Rory nodded and Stephanie continued. "Well, actually, I broke up with him and I told him it was because I needed space and . . . well . . . I lied."

"Why is it such a big deal now?" Rory asked, getting over the shock of Stephanie barging into her dorm.

"Because now he knows I lied," Stephanie said. "Stupid Finn," she muttered.

"Wait, so Finn told Colin that you lied about your break up. Why would he do that?"

"He may have been provoked," Stephanie let on vaguely.

"What did you do to provoke Finn?" Rory asked knowingly.

"That's not relevant," Stephanie avoided Rory's eyes.

"Okay, so what happened between you and Colin?"

Stephanie mumbled something that Rory couldn't make out. "Steph?"

"I thought he fell out of love with me," she repeated, louder.

"What do you mean?"

"After what happened with you and Logan, or what we thought had happened, he changed. I don't know if he thought I would cheat on him or . . . I don't know. But he stopped trusting me. One night I went to the pub and he was really drunk. I mean he was drunker then he had ever been before and he was in a corner making out with some girl," Stephanie paused to wipe away a tear. "Finn saw him too and stopped him and brought him home. The next morning he didn't even remember it. The next day I ended it."

"Oh Steph," Stephanie stopped her.

"It took a lot, but we were friends again eventually. The thing was, he seemed happier than he used to be, than he was when we were dating. And one night I went to bail them out of jail, again, and they were all drunk. But when I was helping him into the car he told me he loved me. For some reason I told Finn."

"Does Colin remember?" Rory asked.

"No. He was drunk, it doesn't mean anything," Stephanie answered as she wiped away another tear.

"But doesn't a drunk mind speak a sober heart?"

"I don't think that's how the saying goes, but something like that," said Stephanie.

"Did you ever wallow?"

Stephanie shook her head.

"Do you want to?"

"Don't you have to study?"

Rory shook her head, "Wallowing trumps studying any day."

A few hours she, Rory, and Paris were sitting in front of the TV watching _An Affair to Remember_. On the table in front of them was an old pizza box, used Chinese food containers, and empty Ben & Jerry's ice cream cartons.

"Hey Rory," Stephanie whispered.

"Yeah,"

"I'm sorry for what I did at the costume shop. I didn't mean to-."

"Don't. It was sort of nice, kind of like the old days."

* * *

"What were you talking about Finn?" Colin asked.

Stephanie had just walked out of her own dorm.

"Never mind."

So maybe he had been an ass. Maybe he shouldn't have told Colin that Stephanie broke up with him for a different reason. But Finn was one hundred percent, absolutely certain that Stephanie should not have told Logan that he liked Rory in high school

He hadn't liked her _that_ much. It wasn't like he made a move on her or anything. Plus, he had dated Rosemary, that right there showed he wasn't completely hung up on Rory.

He had gotten over her. He found Rosemary. Stephanie was wrong when she said he liked her the entire year, because he didn't.

Now, however, he doesn't know. He doesn't know if he likes her now or not. Part of him felt guilty for even thinking of dating Logan's ex-girlfriend. That was an official rule. But did it count when you were going to marry said ex-girlfriend?

"Screw 'never mind'," Colin continued. "I want to know-."

"Well you can't always get what you want Colin!" Finn exclaimed.

It was a cliché, he knew. But it had to be true. There was a song about it after all.

* * *

**I know, totally weird place to end it. I don't know if I like this chapter, but I think it works. Sorry it took so long to update. Please Review**


	6. Breaking All Ties

**Never in a Million Years**

**AN **Thank you so much for all the reviews!!!!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Beta:** just hidden

**Breaking All Ties**

* * *

They had just finished _An Affair to Remember_ when someone started banging on the door.

"Stephanie I know you're in there! Open the door!" Colin demanded from outside the dorm.

Stephanie's eyes bulged for a moment before a look of panic settled on her face. All of a sudden, the door burst open and in came a ragged looking Colin. While Stephanie looked scared, Paris looked angry.

"What the hell is your problem?" exclaimed Paris as Colin tried to approach Stephanie. He was stopped when Paris threw an empty pizza box at his head and stepped in front of him, blocking Stephanie from his view.

"Take a pill Blondie," Colin snapped, having eyes only for Stephanie.

In a rage, Paris stiffened her hand and thrust it, full-force, at Colin's throat. Colin collapsed instantly.

"Oh my God!" shrieked Stephanie.

"Don't worry, he'll be conscious within the hours, Paris told her nonchalantly. Rory and Stephanie could only gape at her.

"What?" Paris asked.

Once again the door burst open, and in ran Logan and Finn.

"We're looking for Colin, have you seen him?" Logan asked as Finn's eyes grew wide.

"Is he dead?" exclaimed Finn, kneeling beside him.

"Men are so dramatic," Paris muttered under her breath.

"What happened?" Logan asked as he knelt beside Finn.

Rory and Stephanie were still gaping and Logan followed their gaze to fine Paris, "You did this?"

"I don't take well to nicknames," was all Paris said.

Logan rolled his eyes and tried to pick Colin up by his arms. He looked at Finn expectantly, "A little help?"

"Right," Finn grabbed Colin's ankles and had and Logan carried him into Rory's roomed.

"Can't you take him back to your room?" Rory asked as they set Colin down on her bed.

"If you want to carry Colin across campus, be my guest," Logan said as he took a seat on the couch.

"What are we watching?" Finn asked, as he sat on the other side of the couch.

Stephanie sat between them and rolled her eyes as Rory started _The Notebook_.

* * *

About forty-five minutes into the movie a disheveled, confused looking Colin emerged from Rory's room.

"Oh, look at the time," Stephanie looked at her left wrist, which was unadorned. "I have to go. Bye Rory, Paris," Stephanie said before walking out.

Colin looked from the door to the guys on the couch. "What happened?"

"Dude, you were punched out by a girl," Logan bellowed. Colin feigned a laugh before following Stephanie out.

"I'm going to go make sure they don't make a scene," Logan said before getting up. "Bye Paris, Ace."

Finn noticed Rory tense up at the use of her old nickname.

"Well Paris I think you're safe from ever being called Blondie again," Rory said.

"Whatever," Paris scoffed. "I have to go to the library. Leave a note if you're going to be out late," Paris told her as she left.

Now only Rory and Finn were left in the common room.

"Well, this is sufficiently awkward," said Finn.

Rory laughed nervously and nodded, "Yeah," she agreed.

"So, Paris punched Colin out, huh?" Finn laughed to himself.

"He called her Blondie, which is pretty much the equivalent of someone calling him cheap; she took great offense."

They both said nothing for a moment before Finn broke the silence, " Do you want to get some dinner?"

"No." Rory answered instantly.

"Oh." Finn was a bit taken aback.

"I mean, I can't," she corrected herself. "I have an appointment with a realtor."

"For what?" Finn asked.

"I'm," she took a breath. "I'm selling the house in Stars Hollow."

He took a moment before speaking, "Why?"

"Well, I don't ever plan on going back there. I can't. I'm not the same person," she tried to explain.

Finn nodded.

"You can come with," she offered, "if you want, I mean."

"Okay," he agreed.

She seemed surprised by his acceptance.

"Are we leaving now?" he asked as he stood up.

"Um . . .sure."

* * *

The real estate agent had been too peppy for her liking. Her mother had been peppy, but this woman reminded Rory of those brainless cheerleaders she used to see on after school specials.

"Take a seat," the agent insisted as she led Rory and Finn into her office. "Well Miss Hayden, what can I do for you?"

"I plan on selling my house in Stars Hollow," Rory said softly

"Well, that should be no problem. Houses thee are in great demand. Real estate value has gone up 40 in the last few years," Sally, the real estate agent, said.

Rory just nodded and unknowingly grabbed Finn's hand.

"Now, are you currently residing in the house?" Sally asked.

"No," Rory whispered.

Sally wrote something down on the paper in front of her, "How long has it been since anyone's lived in the house?"

"It's been a little over two years," Rory said softly.

"Alright," Sally wrote something else done. "It might be a good idea to have someone inspect the house. Are you going to need to remove your stuff from the house?"

"No, I've already purchased a storage space," said Rory.

"You may want to send a cleaning team in to tidy up the place up. You know, to get all the dust out."

Rory just nodded.

* * *

"Are you sure about it?"

Rory and Finn were at a small café halfway between Hartford and New Haven.

Rory took a sip of her coffee before spitting it back into the cup; the coffee really sucked. "Sure about what?"

"Selling the house," Finn filled in.

"Yes," she answered instantly, a bit guarded.

Finn nodded, "Why?"

"Why what?" she retorted, a little more aggressive than she intended.

"Why do you want to sell it? I mean, it's not like you need the money," he replied, matching her tone.

"It's not about the money. It just don't ever want to go into that house again. It hurts too much," Rory whispered the last part.

"What about the house that you owned in Hartford?" Finn asked.

"It's in my name. It has been ever since. . ." Rory trailed off. "They didn't really spend much time there. My mom and I decorated it together. It helped take my mind off of . . . things," she finished.

"If you want, I can get my family's company on it," Finn offered. "We have some of the best-."

"No, that's okay," Rory assured him. "I don't want my grandparents to find out until after it's over."

"Do you think they'd be against it?" Finn asked, narrowing his eyebrows.

"I don't know. I just don't really want their input. My grandfathers are always up for acquiring as much valuable property as possible. I can just hear them telling me how much that property is worth and . . . I just don't want to be talked out of it," Rory summarized.

* * *

Finn slammed the door and walked into the common room of his dorm. Logan and Colin were on the couch and the shut off the TV as soon as Finn came in.

"So how was it?" Logan asked.

"It was fine. Did you get to talk to Stephanie, Colin?" Finn asked.

"Don't try to change the subject," Colin replied.

"Someone's touchy," Finn muttered.

"I say we continue the conversation we had before Stephanie stormed out," Logan suggested. "So, were you ever going to tell me you were in love with Rory or was I just supposed to guess?"

"For the last time, I was not in love with her," Finn retorted.

"Dude, even I know that's not true," Colin chimed in.

"Look, I liked her. It was a stupid crush that I got over. I never made a move on her and I never planned to," Finn told them. "Besides, Rory wouldn't have done anything anyway. We know that now."

Finn turned away from his friends and walked into his room.

* * *

"So where did you go?" Stephanie asked as soon as Rory walked into her dorm.

She and Paris were sitting on the couch, watching CSPAN. It was obviously Paris's choice, considering she was currently yelling into her phone.

"Don't you have a dorm of you own?" Rory retorted.

"Yes, but my roommate isn't as entertaining as yours," Stephanie replied.

"True," Rory gave in. She walked into her room and left the door open, knowing Stephanie would follow her.

"What did you two do?" Stephanie asked as she closed the door behind her.

"We saw a real estate agent and ate dinner," Rory told her as she hung up her coat.

"So progress is being made?"

"I guess," Rory said as she put away her shoes. "I mean, it's weird. Our grandparents basically picked out who we're going to be sleeping with for the rest of our lives."

"So you plan on having sex with Finn," Stephanie said with a huge smile.

Blush invaded Rory's face, "I didn't mean . . . I don't . . . you know what I meant Stephanie."

Stephanie laughed.

"It's just," Rory continued, "I can't believe after all that we're all been through, I end up marrying Finn. It's weird enough that it's arranged but we also have to deal with the whole you guys hating me thing."

"We don't hate you," Stephanie corrected her quickly.

"I know, but, for so long you did. Don't try to deny it, Steph," Rory said when Stephanie opened her mouth to interrupt her. "I saw the look on your guys' faces at that party. I know that you're sorry but it's still weird to be in the same room with all of you."

"It is our fault," Stephanie whispered.

"I'm glad we're friends now," Rory told her. "Or at least working toward being friends; so how did things go with Colin?"

"As well as can be expected, I guess. He caught me as I left your room and I made a stupid excuse to leave and did so before hearing his reply," said Stephanie.

"Do you ever regret it? Breaking up with him, I mean." Rory asked.

"I don't know. I mean, sometimes I miss him like crazy and want to kill any girl he goes out with but, then again, I changed a little after we broke up and I just think that maybe I wouldn't be me if we hadn't. You know?"

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

Sally Reynolds was just getting home when her cell phone started to ring. She didn't recognize the number, which meant only one thing: a client was calling.

"Sally Reynolds, how may I help you?" she asked cheerfully.

"Hi, I saw that you were selling a house in Stars Hollow. I would like to make an offer."

"Oh . . . um . . . that house doesn't go on sale officially until next week," Sally said.

"I'm willing to pay twice the asking price if it goes on sale now," the man on the phone said.

"Deal," Sally said automatically.

* * *

What the hell was he doing?

Finn threw his phone on to his bed and put his head in his hands. Yes, Rory had said that she no longer wanted the house in Stars Hollow, and yes, he should respect her wishes. There was just this nagging feeling in his gut that made him think that maybe she didn't want to get rid of it so soon.

Besides, if she still didn't want the house when he told her about it, he'd sell it then.

But for now, he'd just hold on to it.

* * *

**I know it has been forever since I updated. Sorry, I hope you like this chapter. I started it months ago and finally realized I hadn't finished it. Once again, sorry. Please review.**


	7. Pizza, Chinese, and Communists

**Never in a Million Years**

**AN **Thank you so much for all the reviews!!!!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Pizza, Chinese, and Communists**

**

* * *

**

It had really been just a matter of time until the press found out.

The flash of the camera going off in her face really didn't daze her anymore. The purple spots it left in her vision didn't impair her balance the way it did when she was in high school. They never really bothered her and Logan when they were together. Sure, they had been in Switzerland, but they were still two high-profile individuals.

The cameras, the being escorted through crowds by security guards, the sunglasses becoming necessary; it had all started when her parents had died. She had stepped off the Hayden jet and the cameras just started going off.

Rory didn't really remember much from those weeks, but Rory did remember one thing. She had felt numb. The combination of loosing her parents and all of her friends . . . it was like all the nerves in her body were on the fritz.

She didn't cry after that night about anything. Not about her parents, not about Logan, nothing. When she went back to school after the funeral she expected to be bombarded with criticism. She expected the entire school to think she had slept with Marty, who, she had noticed, wasn't anywhere to be found.

However, no one said anything to her at all. Stephanie never came back to the dorm and Rory later found out that while she had been gone Stephanie had moved the entire content of her closet to Colin's room and that was where she was staying. It wasn't anything she didn't expect.

She left Harper right after graduation for Yale. She took summer classes and was a semester ahead of her fellow freshman. The classes gave her something else to think about.

Still, she didn't expect to open her door one morning to see a camera go off in her face. She thought those days were behind her. However, it seemed that when one billionaire gets engaged to another billionaire, people want to know about it.

Rory just took a deep breath before making her way through the crowd and to her first class that morning. She had been expecting something like this to happen, something bad. Her bad week had started when she got a call from the realtor saying that someone had bought her house. Or her old house.

It didn't take that long to get to her dorm. Campus security had stopped the press when they got to the main campus. All she did was ignore the stares from her peers and slipped into her first class, which she happened to share with Stephanie. Before, Steph had just ignored her, but now, not so much.

"Hey, I saw the stalkarazzi in front of your dorm. How'd you get through it?" the blond asked.

"Just walked right through." Rory replied.

Stephanie started to laugh, but then she realized Rory was seriously, "Wow, when the press first came out to me I was freaked out."

"This wasn't the first time," Rory told her.

Stephanie looked confused for a moment and then her face fell, "Right."

She didn't mean to make Stephanie feel bad, but Rory blamed it on not having a sufficient amount of caffeine in her system.

**

* * *

**

Rory went through her entire day ignoring her surroundings. All she did was go to class, take notes, and buy coffee. Stephanie had tried to get her attention a few times during their first shared class, but Rory pretended she didn't see her. She really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone.

By the end of her last class, Rory had succeeded in avoiding everyone she knew. She already knew where the four usually were during the day; it had helped her avoid them when they were mad at her. Rory wasn't a frequent customer at the pub or usually seen at the coffee stands near the guys' dorms. Plus, it wasn't like Logan spent much time at the YDN.

However, she noticed that Logan was spending more time at the YDN ever since her engagement had been announced. Rory just hoped it was coincidental. She really hoped that today was a day that he wasn't there. She had to get an article approved.

**

* * *

**

Even if Logan had been there, it wouldn't have made a difference.

Doyle jumped on her as soon as she entered to room. Wanting to make sure that she knew that 'just because she was engaged to a multi-billionaire' that she wasn't expecting 'special treatment.' Rory basically just threw her article at him and left, ignoring his calls for her to come back.

Rory made her way back to her dorm building and let campus security help her get to her door. She had heard whispers that the press had left after she had and just recently came back an hour ago. The screen on her answering machine let her know that, along with all the missed calls from her cell phone, she had eight messages waiting for her. Only two were from people she actually knew, Finn and Emily. She didn't want to talk to either of them.

Suddenly, the front door opened and Paris rushed inside. Rory could see flashbulbs going off behind her roommate. Paris saw the disheveled look of her roommate and couldn't bring herself to yell at Rory.

"There's a documentary on Stalin on in an hour," Paris said without warning, "What do you say? Pizza, Chinese, and Communists?"

It was the closest Rory came to smiling all day, "I'll order the Chinese," she replied.

Paris nodded her head and started looking for the number to the pizza place.

**

* * *

**

Meanwhile, Colin, Finn, Logan were at the pub. Stephanie was avoiding Colin and had therefore opted for a party thrown by Juliet and Rosemary.

"Do you think we should have known, I mean, somehow? That Marty kid kept denying it and . . ." Logan trailed off.

"We should have known," Colin stated, cutting off any other theories. Terminating any ideas that they were creating just to make themselves feel better, ideas that maybe the horrible thing they did wasn't as horrible as it seemed.

Finn nodded in agreement. Until this morning, he hadn't thought about everything Rory had had to deal with after her parent's died. When Finn saw Rory walk through the sea of reporters to get onto the main campus, he was surprised to see how she looked like such a pro doing it.

"Have you talked to her at all today? I mean . . ." Colin trailed off.

"No," Finn replied. "I called a few times but she didn't answer. I think she's avoiding me."

"More like all of us. Stephanie said she pretty much ran out of class this morning to get away from her," Logan said.

"She ran?" Finn asked in disbelief, knowing Rory's abhorrence of exercise.

"You talked to Steph? Today? Did she say anything about me?" Colin asked at the same time.

"No," Logan answered Colin, obviously disgusted at how pathetic his friend was becoming.

Colin glared. Logan smirked and took another sip of his scotch.

"What ever happened to Marty?" questioned Finn, going back to their previous conversation.

"Robert was screwing an office aid who told him that he took all of his exams early and left. I think he got a full scholarship to Harvard," Colin informed them.

"Harvard, huh? Wanker," muttered Finn.

"Now I feel really bad that we beat him up," Logan mused.

Colin and Finn nodded their heads in agreement.

**

* * *

**

Wednesday night a blizzard rolled though New Haven. All roads leading in, out, or around New Haven were closed. Classes were cancelled for the rest of the week, which wasn't a bid deal considering they had the next week off for Thanksgiving. However, it did confine everyone to the Yale Campus.

This sort of made avoiding everyone a little harder for Rory. While the campus itself was open, the library, YDN, and classrooms were all closed. Besides the dorms, the only other buildings open were the cafeterias and the Admin. Building. On the upside, she no longer had a reporter from every major news source waiting for her next move.

She and Paris spent most of Thursday finishing up term papers, catching up on reading and got a head start on studying for finals in December. Thankfully, one of them had gone shopping, so they had enough coffee and food to last them through the day. This meant that Rory didn't have to risk running into any of _them_. But it did mean that if they were looking for her, they wouldn't have a very hard time finding her.

The first visit came on Friday morning. To her surprise, it was Colin. Honestly, she thought it would have been Finn, who hadn't stopped calling her, or Stephanie, who had kept trying to corner her at the end of their mutual classes. It was because of her surprise that she even opened the door instead of pretending to still be asleep or letting Paris scare him off.

Rory let her hand rest on the doorknob for a moment before twisting her wrist and opening the door. He looked surprised that she answered his knock and left her to start the conversation.

"Did you need something?" she asked.

"No . . .yes . . .I just wondered if . . . Well, we wanted to know . . ." Colin trailed off. He took a deep breath and continued, "We were wondering if you had any plans for Thanksgiving."

"We?" Rory wanted to clarify.

"Me, Logan, Finn, and Stephanie," he finished the last name softly.

"Thanksgiving?"

Colin looked confused at her confusion, "Thanksgiving," he confirmed. "You know, that holiday to commemorate the dinner between -." Thinking he was being sarcastic, Rory went to close the door, but Colin stopped it with his foot. "Sorry" he said sheepishly.

It was weird, seeing Colin like this. He was usually so cocky and . . . assholish.

"As you might recall," Colin continued, " we usually plan a trip for the week we get off and we were just wondering if you would like to come with us."

_Was he serious? _Rory thought. _Would she like to spend a week with people who, up until recently, hated her? Hmm, let me think . . . _

"Thanks for the invite, but I have plans. I'm going to dinner with my-," she was interrupted.

"Grandparents, I know, but think about it. Do you really want to sit through a three hour dinner with the people who basically sold you off to the highest bidder?" Colin asked

Rory just gaped at him.

**

* * *

**

"She's not coming," Colin said as he entered the dorm, Logan and Finn looking up form the TV when they heard the door open.

"Why not?" Logan asked.

Colin glared at him, "She may still be a little miffed about the whole abandoning her thing," he replied.

Logan rolled his eyes, but conceded to the point.

"How did you ask her," Finn wanted to know.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Colin asked, avoiding the question and Finn's eyes, as he went to the kitchenette to poor himself a cup of coffee. Was Finn trying to imply he had no people skills? Okay, maybe he had been a little . . . harsh, but it was all true.

"Damn it, I knew we should have sent Stephanie to ask her," Finn exclaimed, knowing Colin was, albeit unintentionally, probably an asshole to his future wife.

"You've been talking to Stephanie?" Colin asked, his interest piqued.

Logan rolled his eyes again, "Oh my God, will you grow a pair and go talk to her yourself? What did you say to Rory?"

Colin looked back at his two best friends and tried to find a way to explain to them what he had said while still making himself look good. "Well, I might have insinuated that she should blow off her grandparents and come with us because all they did was sell her off to the highest bidder. Or, you know, something like that."

There was no way to make that sound good, was there?

"You what?" Finn replied incredulously. Logan just looked at him in disbelief. "Might have?"

"Or something like it," Colin reminded them.

**

* * *

**

Rory slammed the door in Colin's face and couldn't help but think one thing. _He was right._

In high school, she had never really known how much her friends had been worth. From the way he acted, one would think Logan's family had more money than God. However, their money was relatively new, compared to the fortunes of his peers. Apart from Rory, Colin and Stephanie were tied for the oldest money, while, surprisingly, Finn was worth the most. Apparently, his family had always been wealthy, but his grandfather made them obscenely wealthy when he forayed into the hotel business.

How did she know all this?

Apparently, once the story of Rory and Finn's engagement broke, Forbes magazine decided to do a profile Rory, Finn, and their friends, Paris included. I had sickened her to think that her grandparents had shopped around for a suitable companion for Rory.

_Who else had they considered? What were they getting out of it? Why Finn? Why now? Was this a new plan? Had her parents know about this? _

Rory didn't like to think about it. She was tired of thinking bout it, tired of being the perfect granddaughter, tired of everything. The fate of her Thanksgiving break all came down to one decision. Contrary to Colin's belief, she hadn't planned to go to her grandparent's for dinner. She was going to just hang around campus, do some unneeded studying, not thing about the vast wasteland that her life was becoming. Paris wouldn't be there, so she would have the place to herself.

So she could do that, go to her grandparents for dinner (not), or go on a trip to an unknown location with her ex-boyfriend, her ex-best friend, her ex-best friend's ex-boyfriend, and her current fiancé.

Rory knew she was going to regret this.

Rory got her phone, dialed a number, and waited for him to pick up.

"Colin? I'll go."

**

* * *

**

Okay, I know I haven't updated in almost a year, and I'm sorry if this came off a little dark. I am also working on an update for Society, so I might have been channeling that.

I hope you all like this!.


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